


One For The Road

by JtGD



Category: McFly
Genre: Anxiety, Dougie-centric, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Happy Ending, M/M, Multi, OT4 Friendship, Past Abuse, Past Rape/Non-con
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-13
Updated: 2017-03-13
Packaged: 2018-10-04 14:02:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,989
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10280261
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JtGD/pseuds/JtGD
Summary: “It’s only because we’re all a little messed up-” Harry starts, but he doesn’t get to complete his sentence before Tom cuts him off.“We’re not messed up, we’re just…” Tom trails off, unsure how to explain the situation.“We didn’t belong where we were before, so we made a place where we belong.” Danny grins at Dougie cheerfully, “Well, I say ‘we’, long story short; Tom got the house first, got lonely and found Harry, they both found me and now we’re here with you."~~~Or: Dougie finds himself a little lost but the best people in the world find him, so everything's okay.(Inspired by dodie's song "One for the Road")





	

**Author's Note:**

> This wasn't going to be chaptered but it was taking too long and I wanted to get it out there. so here's the first part out of four!
> 
> Based on the fact that 'Dougie abuse' and other Dougie related sadness comes up in autocomplete on Google when you search for McFly fic and dodie's song One for the Road.

### You Moved on Ridiculously Quick

The first thing he feels is relief. It’s odd really; he knows he should be feeling a _multitude_ of other things, or worrying about what he’ll do next, where he’ll go.

But for now, he’s relieved.

It’s after minutes or possibly hours, sat on the cold pavement with his back pressed against cold brick, as he starts to see his breath fog in front of him that he realises he needs somewhere to stay for the night and also that he has no way of contacting anyone. His fingers start to numb, although at least it numbs the other aches and bruises on his body too, fading into a dull pain he can barely feel anymore. Eyes close tightly in thought, racking together all the options he has and weighing up all the pros and cons before a voice calls out to him, pulling him out of his murky mind.

“Hey, are you alright?”

It’s been a long time since anyone’s asked him that and Dougie’s not sure how to reply to the man, blonde and fairly tall but his expression is so soft and concerned it makes Dougie crumple up and hide behind his hands.

The man kneels down beside him, reaching out to touch the shaking mess, “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to-”

The stranger’s apology gets cut off when Dougie jerks back violently, to shrink away before the man lays even one finger on him. (He’s learnt it’s the ones who seem the nicest that can hit the hardest.)

“Okay- Okay, no touching, I-” Dougie peers up towards the man who looks more than awkward, shuffling around on the spot, trying to figure out what to do.

“Listen, it might sound a little crazy but would you like to come to my house, I can fix up your cuts and scars, you can shower or eat and then leave whenever you like. I was going to find a shop to put up this new roommate ad, there are three of us already and one of them thought of the ad but I wanted to find someone who- It doesn’t matter, sorry. Just. _Trust me,_ I’ll help you out a little and if you don’t like it there, you can leave. My name’s Tom by the way.” Tom offers his hand out for Dougie to shake who silently stares at it hard, weighing all his options up again.

“Sorry, no touching, I already forgot.” The hand drops back down and Tom sighs dejectedly, looking prepared to stand up and walk away when Dougie interrupts him.

“Wait,” the voice that comes out of him is so much croakier and feebler than he expects, though he definitely gets Tom’s attention. “Yes. Please.” His voice doesn’t let him say much more than that.

“You’re okay with coming back with me?” Dougie nods keenly.

Tom glances down at the roommate ad in his gloved hand, looking up at Dougie as he crumples it up.

“Cool, well. My car’s down here so if you follow behind, I’ll show you where it is and drive you to mine.” The man looks as though he’s holding himself back from helping as Dougie pulls himself up off the ground, trying to hide his winces as he leans against the wall for support.

The car journey is filled with soft music and Tom’s ramblings about the house, or something. Dougie can’t quite concentrate on the words; listens to the tone of the new voice instead, making himself believe he can trust this stranger even though it’s hard-wired into his brain to not trust anybody by now, including friends and family, especially strangers.

_Either way, he didn’t really have any other option._  


***

He feels like he’s intruding as soon as he gets into the house.

Actually, that’s not true, he feels like he’s really intruding now. Tom had shown him where he’d be staying as well as the shower; brought some spare clothes across and left him alone. He’d waited in his room, glancing at everything; (clean but plainly decorated) for about an hour after he’d showered and changed, until he figured he was supposed to ask Tom about what he was allowed to do next, creeping down the stairs and stopping abruptly by the kitchen door when he hears shouting. It makes him shrink back into himself again, shivering slightly as he suppresses horrible thoughts.

“We don’t know him Tom! You’ve brought a stranger into our house; you were meant to put a roommate ad up and you’ve brought a **fucking kid** that was sat on the streets into our home.”

Dougie can’t help the way his breath starts to speed up, heavy and uncontrollable as he tries to focus on staying calm. The voice in the kitchen sounds quite posh but harsh and angry and it’s all Dougie’s fault.

“Come on Harry. You knew we’d never take some guy that took up the ad. It would _always_ be like this.” This voice he recognises as Tom’s, taking in the soft tones he’d nearly fallen asleep to in the car. It sounds gentle still, despite that other man (Harry?) yelling but the way Tom’s voice quivers slightly makes him scared.

“It doesn’t have to be like this! Just because we’re all fucked up doesn’t mean everyone in the house has to be. Can’t we have some normality around here?”

“I had to, it was like- It was like finding Danny again, you remember that? Remember finding him and _we knew._ ” The way Tom’s voice raises at this scares Dougie all over again, still huddled by the kitchen door, too concentrated on breathing (in…out…) to run back up to his room. 

His voice is much softer when he starts out again, yet still with the same firm, determined note from before. “It was like that, that feeling again. Give me a chance, okay? We’ll see how this goes for a bit and we’ll work things out.”

He hears a sigh from the other guy, “Okay.” There’s a long pause of speech; the sound of movement replacing it instead, shuffling on a tiled floor and the sound of a kettle or microwave, Dougie thinks.

“You know it’s not that I don’t trust you or anything, Tom. I’m only trying to make sure, be wary, you know.” Harry seems a lot quieter now and Dougie calms down too, breathing returning to a relatively normal rate as he hears Tom reply with a fond ‘I know’ until someone else sneaks up nearby.

“This the queue to the kitchen or summat?” There’s a distinct northern accent behind him and Dougie whips around to see a brunette with bright blue eyes and an even brighter grin. The brunette cocks his head when Dougie doesn’t reply, squinting his eyes slightly at him like he’s trying to figure something out.

“You can go in if you like, don’t have to wait out here.” And with that, the guy pushes the door open, careful not to come into contact with Dougie as he walks in, holding the door open and smiling.

“Oh, I was about to come and get you!” Tom exclaims, startled. He rambles on a little more while scurrying around the room, pulling a chair at the main table out for Dougie to sit at, opposite Harry (who’s already started eating). From the first glance Dougie has of him, Harry seems quite muscular with neat brown hair and intense blue eyes, but Dougie focuses his gaze elsewhere quickly; not wanting to annoy him or create a worse impression than he already has.

“I’ve made a hot chocolate for you, thought you wouldn’t want caffeine, and Harry finished cooking a moment ago so I hope you like pasta!” A plate of pasta with some sort of cheesy tomato sauce gets put in front of him by Tom, as well as a large mug of hot chocolate and Dougie bites his lip; hasn’t been treated to good food in so long, the wonderful smell of it makes his stomach rumble.

“Hope its okay, only a simple meal really. Dan’s the best cook around here.” Harry says softly, watching Dougie curiously which makes him blush, ducking his head down with the guise of eating the pasta. He’s glad to have any proper food and what he has now is more than enough, a mixture of sour and sweet and all the flavours he’s missed over the past couple of years. The baggy clothes from Tom and his small, skinny arms from under the T-shirt are enough to show the three men that he’s not been eating as he should be for quite a while now.

“You heard Tom and I didn’t you?” It only prompts Dougie to blush further, duck his head down lower. Harry shifts uncomfortably, taking a breath to collect his thoughts. “I’m sorry if I gave you a bad first impression, I’m sure you’re a good guy. I just get quite protective I guess, of these guys and the house. And Tom trusts too easily sometimes.”

“Well you don’t trust easily enough.” Tom retorts light-heartedly, sitting down next to Dougie with his own small plate of pasta and Danny sits by Harry with his meal.

Danny laughs quietly to himself, watching his two friends. He looks back at Dougie to try and make him feel included, “He’s only like that because he cares. You learn that soon enough.” The Northerner looks across with a small smile at Harry who looks a little embarrassed, but smiles back all the same.

“It’s only because we’re all a little messed up-” Harry starts, but he doesn’t get to complete his sentence before Tom cuts him off.

“We’re not messed up, we’re just…” Tom trails off, unsure how to explain the situation.

“We didn’t belong where we were before, so we made a place where we belong.” Danny grins at Dougie cheerfully, “Well, I say ‘we’, long story short; Tom got the house first, got lonely and found Harry, they both found me and now we’re here with you. We all have some _unlucky_ backgrounds so this place is like a little safe haven for us, our home. It’d be nice if you could join us and stay here but we’ll understand if you want to find your own place, sort things out yourself.”

Dougie looks up from his plate of pasta, half-finished (although Tom put practically two portions on his plate so he’s almost full). He glances across at all the unfamiliar faces, Tom nodding at Danny in thanks and Harry rolling his eyes at them warmly. It’s a strange atmosphere for Dougie, enjoying the warm feeling he’s not experienced for a long while but he notices the little _tells_ from each of them that show everything’s not quite alright. The sudden but slight falters in Danny’s smile, the way Tom occasionally squeezes his eyes shut and mumbles to himself frantically, the way Harry taps on the table in a clear rhythm, unwavering, filling the craving for a constant. It’s not a place Dougie feels like he belongs in right now, but it’s a place he’d like to feel relaxed and safe in, someday in the future.

The youngest coughs shortly, trying to draw their attention to him and it works, shifting uncomfortably when they turn to look at him.

“I would like to stay here. Live here, I mean. If that’s alright.”

Dougie’s gaze falls back down onto his plate as soon as he finishes stuttering the sentence out. He thinks he catches a glimpse of them smiling at each other and hopes it’s not just wishful thinking, waiting for his breath to steady again, calming down slowly.

“Dougie?” He glances up to the call of his name from across the table, steely eyes slightly softer than before and a kind expression on his features, posh voice carefully articulating his words with a smile.

_“Welcome to the family.”_

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos and comments are **very** much appreciated, prompts and requests are welcomed.  
>  Hope you enjoyed!


End file.
